There are suggestions in Shakespeare’s work that he resented the repetition and discipline that characterized his Renaissance education. This is relatable, as learning Latin in a rigid and laborious way must have felt less than practical and not especially useful to students then, as it often does to students now.

The author is pointing out that there was no audience or need for the type of linguistic creativity that Shakespeare was only able to achieve as a result of his intimate knowledge of Latin, until the professional theater emerged during Shakespeare’s very lifetime. The drilling and study in Latin proved, in the event, to be practical and useful in a new and unexpected way.